Cotton treating machine



July 18, 1933 J. E. MITCHELL 1,918,610

COTTON TREATING MACHINE Filed Feb. 15, 1932 Mann roe: JOh A/ 6. M/TChELL.

WQZMJW Patented July 18, 1933 UNITED STATES JOHN E. MITCHELL,

PATENT OFFICE 011' DALLAS, TEXAS co'r'roN TREATING MACHINE Applicationfiled February 15, 1932. Serial No. 592,866.

This invention relates to an improved construction of cotton treatingmachines adapted to be positioned on top of a gin stand, and has for itsgeneral object to provide such a machine with a removable supportingsecmachines directly on top of gin stands, but

when the space above the gin is utilized for lnstalhng cleaning andextractmg mechanism, and mechanical means for collecting or removingthetrash separated, access is then prevented to the brush doffers andother parts i of the gin. In other words, it becomes necessary todismount or entirelytremove such machinery from the topofthe gin standsin order to give access to'the brush dofi'ers 5 of brush gins, and toother parts of the gin,

which at times require inspection or repair. To obviate this difliculty,and at the same time utilize the available space above each gin forcleaning and extracting mechanism,

I have provided aremovable' supporting section for the lower portion ofsuch cleaning or extracting machine, and mount certain operating partsunitary with the removable or 1 detachable" section, so that when thesection is removed, ample space is provided for giving access to thebrush doffers or other parts of gins, without disturbingthe main body ofthe machine mounted thereon.

The invention isillustrated in the accom panying drawing, in which;

Fi ure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showlng 'a simple cleanerfeeder machine mounted on a gin stand, a portion only ofthe upperportion of the latter being shown; and

Figure 2is a cross sectional view through the detachable unittaken onthe line 22 of Figurel.

Referring now to the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates a gin stand inwhich is mounted the upper brush 'dofl'er 2 rotating adjacent the breast3 of the gin. Mounted on top of the gin stand 1 is, in this instance, acleaner feeder machine indicated, generally, by the numeral 4, saidmachine comprising a pair of feeding rolls, 5, for regulating the streamof cotton withdrawn from the hopper and fed into the machine, and aseries of beating cylinders, 6, foragitating the cotton over screensurfaces, 7, before it is discharged from a spout, 8, into the breast 3of the gin.

A more detailed description of the machine 4 is not required-for thepurposes of this case, as said machine is'flonly illustrative of a typeof machine that in practice is mounted on the gin stand. In otherinstallations,

a cotton cleaning or extracting machine might be mounted on the ginstand where I have shown a cleaner feeder machine to be mounted.

V In either type of machine, the major portion of the housing usually isformed of sheet metal, as indicated at Sat, and in the preferredembodiment of the invention, the bottom of this housing is shaped toprovide an inclined wall, 9, leading to a trash outlet, 10, below whichis a conveyor, 11, for conducting trash from the machine. The machine1,v as a whole, is supported on the gin stand by means of rearsupporting members, 11 and front supporting members, 12. The rearsupporting members 11 are rigidly connected to the bottom of the machineat each corner thereof and are secured together by means of a rod, 13,extending through a spacing tube, 14, which extends between the twosupports 11 and abuts against the inner side of each, in

a manner well understood. 1

The from supporting members 12 are formed'as a unitary part of aremovable section, and each support includes a portion of the side wallof the machine, which portion is indicatediby the numeral 15. Extending,between the two supporting members 12 is a curved housing section, 16,on each end of which is secured a flange, 17 by means of which each endof the housing section may be bolted, riveted, or otherwise secured tothe side members 15 of the movable section, as indicated at 18. Thehousing section 16 not only serves as one of the means for holding thetwo front supporting members 12 together, but it also operates to catchtrash discharged through thescreen 7 located above it in the main bodyof the machine. In like manner, if an extracting machine were mounted onthe gin stand, the housing section would receive trash discharged fromthe extracting mechanism. The supporting members 12 are additionallysecured together by means of a rod, 19, passing through a spac-- ingtube 20, which extends the full length ofthe machine, from one of thesupports to the other. e

The spout 8, previously referred to, is adjustably mounted in theremovable frontsup portingsection by being secured to a shaft 21, whichis mounted in bearings (not shown) carried by the two side-members 15 ofthe front supporting members. The numeral 22 indicates a trashsweep,which issecured to, and adaptedto be rotated/by: a shaft23, mounted inbearings (not shown) also-carried by the side members 15 ,ofthe frontsup.- porting members. The upper end of the housing section16. isadapted to. abut against thebottomof an inner casing'section 24;, andthe lower edge of said housing section is similarlyadapted to abutagainst the. lower edge ofan upwardly inclined part of the housing 80to, provide a continuation of the wall. of. the trash. receptacle formedby. the housing section16.

The casing section 24 forms with the front wall of the housing So anoutlet 25 for the cleaned cotton located immediately above the spout 8.In 7 order to secure the detachable front supporting section to the mainbody of the machine, saidsection isprovidedat each side at its top andrear with flanges, 26, and is adapted to be secured tosimilar fianges,2' 7, formed on the walls of'the main body of'tlie machine, by means ofb,olts,28.

From an inspection of Figure 1, it will be readily seen that with themachine 1 mounted on the gin stand, and inthe'absence of my invention,it would be impossible to gain access to the brush doifer 2, or to anyother working part of the gin located under said machine, withoutdismounting the latter, or removing it in its entirety. from ilLS'OS1ti0n on the gin.

According to my invention, the necessity of removing the machine 4:, tovpermit access to the interior of the gin is entirely obviated By simplyremoving the bolts 28, the entire front supporting section, togetherwith the sweep 22 and spout 8, may be-re-moved, providing a wide, openspace, whichgives free access'to the brush dofler and other parts of thegin below. This removable section may be as readily connected to themain body of the machine by restoring the parts to the position shown inFigure 1, and then securing the bolts 28 in the flanges 26 and When thefront supporting section is removed, the machine may be temporarilysupported at the front by a rope or chain suspended from above.

The sweep 22 is the preferably form of mechanical means for handling thetrash separated. in the front part of the machine, for the reason thatit is necessary to have the trash conveyor 11 in the rear of themachine,

and by merely sweeping the trash out of the housing section 15 to theinclined wall 9 over which it slides into the conveyor 11, I avoid henecessity of an additional conveyor. However, it is obvious that othermeans than the sweep could be mounted in the detachable section forremoving the trash.

I claim: 7

'1. In a machine for treating cotton designed to be positioned on top ofa gin stand, a removable section forminga support for the machine andhaving parts of the operating elements of the machine mounted therein,whereby when said section is removed a space will be provided to permitaccess to the interior of the gin.

2. In a machine for treating cotton designed to be positioned on top ofa gin stand, in combination with a main housing inclosing, in part, thecotton treating mechanism,

a removable section forming a support for forming a continuation of thewall of said main housing, whereby when said section is removed a spacewill be provided topermit access to the interior of the gm.

'3. In a machine for treating cotton designed to be positioned on top ofa gin stand, in combination with a main housing inclosing, in part, thecotton-treating mechanism, a removable section forming a support'for themachine and having parts of the operating elements mounted therein, ahousing section carried by said removable section and providing, whenthe section is in place, a trash receptacle the wall whereof-constitutesa continuation of the wall of said main housing, a trash remover mountedin said removable section and adapted, in operation, to remove trash,from said receptacle, whereby, when said section is removed, a spacewill be provided to permit access to the interior of the 4."In amachine, for treating cotton designed to be positioned on top of a ginstand, in combination with a main housing inclosing, in part, the cottontreating mechanism, a support for said machine comprising side members,a housing section connecting the two side members and forming, when thesupport is in position a continuation of thewall of said main housing,and an operating element of the machine, normally located in the lowerpart thereof, mounted in said. side members, said side members, housingsection and operating element being constructed as a unitary sectionremovable from the main body of the machine, and which, when removed,provides a space permitting access to the interior of the machine. 7

5. In a machine for treating cotton designed to be positioned on top ofa gin stand, in combination with a main housing inclosing, in part, thecotton treating mechanism, a pair of side supporting members for saidmachine, a housing section connecting said side members and forming acontinuation of the wall of the main housing, said housing section beingshaped to provide a trash receptacle, a trash remover mounted in saidside members and cooperating with said trash receptacle, said sidemembers, housing section and trash remover providing a unitary sectionof the machine, and means for detachably connecting said section to themain body of the machine, whereby it may be removed at will to provide aspace giving access to the interior of the gin.

6. In a machine for treating cotton designed to be positioned on top ofa gin stand, in combination with a main housing inclosing, in part, thecotton treating mechanism,

a removable front section forming a support for the machine, havingparts of the operating elements of the machine mounted therein andcarrying a cotton discharge spout, and a housing section formed as aunitary part of said removable section and constituting a continuationof the wall of the said main housing, whereby when said section isremoved a space willbe provided to give access to the interior of thegin.

7 In a machine for treating cotton designed to be positioned on top of agin stand, in combination with a main housing inclosing, in part, thecotton treating mechanism, a pair of supporting members for the machine,a housing section forming a trash receptacle extending between andconnecting said members and forming a continuation of said main housing,a rotatable trash remover mounted in and extending between saidsupporting members and adapted, in operation, to remove trash from saidhousing section,

and means for detachably connecting said supporting members to saidmachine, whereby the same, together with the parts carried thereby, maybe removed from the machine to give access to the interior of the in.

' JOHN E. MITC LL.

